General News

News Roundup: April 1

By:
Guylaine Cadorette

Apr 01, 2002 | 11:43am EST

Top Story

Melissa Rivers, daughter of comedian and author Joan Rivers, reveals in the April 6 issue of TV Guide that she and husband John Endicott have separated. Rivers and Endicott tied the knot on Dec. 12, 1998 at New York's Plaza Hotel in a winter wonderland ceremony that included 100 white-painted trees and more than 20,000 flowers. Rivers told the magazine: "I had a pretty wedding. I made the pretty house. I had the pretty baby, I had the handsome husband. I had the career, he had the career, with me at the gate, waving.

"And the reality is: I'm flawed. He's flawed. I'm still in the honeymoon stages of trying to stay above the fray, and I'm going to be civil, but there have been days when I've just wanted to freak."

Celebs

Black, Hispanic and Asian performers including Salma Hayek, Rosie Perez and rapper Eve took part in V-Day Harlem at the Apollo Theatre in New York City's Harlem neighborhood, the Associated Press reports. The event, a staged version of The Vagina Monologues, was a benefit to raise awareness about violence against women. Proceeds from the performance will go to several black, Hispanic and Asian women's anti-violence organizations.

The Tea Council is launching a new ad campaign aimed at revamping its image and has signed model Kate Moss to become Britain's new spokeswoman for tea, PageSix.com reports. The Tea Council is hoping Moss, who once admitted to drinking between 10-15 cups a day, will convince its target audience of women ages 25 to 34 that tea isn't just for grandma anymore.

Tara Reid, who plays a college newspaper journalist in National Lampoon's Van Wilder, told Newsday that she was attracted to the role to see "what it was like on the other side." In the film, Reid's character, Gwen, has to rewrite a piece that she feels is not very fair--which she thinks journalists don't do enough. "Some of the things people write about me are so not right, or so off, and I think, 'God, wouldn't it be nice if someone, one day, went back and opened their eyes?'"

Christina Ricci is in talks to star in Borgia, a historical drama set in the 15th century. She will join Ewan McGregor, who signed on last week. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ricci will segue into the project after she completes shooting Woody Allen's untitled project.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus told the Sunday edition of The Washington Post that unlike her two former Seinfeld co-stars, the show has been a blessing for her. NBC is hoping her new comedy, Watching Ellie, will not go the way of Jason Alexander and Michael Richards.

In an effort to distinguish its flagship series Raw on TNN and Smackdown on UPN, the World Wrestling Federation has designated specific wrestlers exclusively to each show, Variety reports. Raw, which airs Monday nights, will feature the Undertaker, Kane, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, Lita and the Hardy Boyz, while Thursday night's Smackdown will include the Rock, Hollywood Hulk Hogan, Kurt Angle, Chris Jericho, Edge and Stacy Kiebler. Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H and Jazz will float between the two shows for the time being.

Music News

Musicians Charlie Daniels and Aaron Neville spent Easter Sunday counseling inmates at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, where almost 90 percent of the prison's inmates are serving life sentences. The effort was part of Operation Starting Line, a coalition of more than 20 faith-based organizations that, through religion, try to help inmates turn their lives around , the AP reports.

Jazz history is getting some long-overdue recognition in New Orleans, La. The Preservation Resource Center and the New Orleans Jazz Commission launched an ambitious project to designate long-ignored landmarks in the city's music history by placing their first of 100 "jazz house" historic plaques on a home in New Orleans, La. The plaque was placed on the home where Armand J. Piron--the leader of a popular society band, teacher and music publisher--once lived, the AP reports.